Title: The Tree House
Author: Douglas Thayer
Publisher: Zarahemla Books
Genre: Adult Fiction
Year Published: 2009
Number of Pages: 384
Binding: Trade Paperback
ISBN10: 0978797175
ISBN13: 978-0978797171
Price: $16.95
Reviewed by Jonathan Langford
Note: I received a free copy of this book from the author, in trade for a free copy of my book, No Going Back.
Harris Thatcher has pretty much everything a 15-year-old boy could [...]

Author’s note: This started as a post on my own blog on whether or not No Going Back is a YA novel. I showed it to William Morris, who suggested that I post it here. I quote from his comments: “I know you are worried about readers tiring of hearing about No Going Back, but [...]

Note: This started as an entry for my personal/book blog, which focuses primarily (so far) on No Going Back and its reception. However, I quickly realized that what I was writing was taking a far more theoretical/literary direction. So I decided to cross-post it here, with apologies if needed, on the theory that I’d love [...]

Orson Scott Card said that his historical novel, Saints, was a “love song to my people.” Full of fiery characters debating quintessential Mormon dilemmas against the backdrop of a historically-charged time period, it was a ballad that delighted and disturbed both mainstream Mormon readers and OSC’s readers who subscribed to other faiths. David Farland’s In [...]

Part One may be found here.
Both Austenland and A & H tackle romantic fantasies and the nature of romantic comedies, their “grotesque mimicry of actual love (A & H 304).”  And when Becky tries to decide whether or not she could actually love Felix romantically, she writes a screenplay with a movie ending.  But the [...]

Shannon Hale is the author of several young adult novels—including Enna Burning (reviewed here), the Newbery Award winner The Princess Academy, and, most recently, Forest Born.  She has also published two adult novels, Austenland and The Actor and the Housewife. The latter provoked strong responses among Shannon’s readers, and no wonder.  It’s a bold work [...]

Note: This is just a teaser, really, to prepare you for Part 4. (Coming next week.)
That, or it’s mid-term week and I haven’t had time to flesh out the next post.
Either way. On to Part 3.5.
Roughing Out a Theory and a Course in Mormon Lit
i. The Theory
As I was scripturing this morning in Jacob 5, [...]

Warning: Spoilers ahead! Also, a long post.
I’ve been reading Shannon Hale’s YA novels to my daughter, now 13, for four years.  The Books of Bayern are wonderfully emotionally textured, edgy enough to challenge my daughter, and filled with lots of girl power to encourage her to consider her options.  Hale’s attention to language attracts my [...]